10 Best Books I Read in 2024

2024 wasn’t the best year for me when it came to reading. For one reason or another, I didn’t read as many books as I wanted, which is a shame.

However, the books I read, including the ones below, were enjoyable. I read a mix of fiction and non-fiction on a wide range of topics such as the environment to a gripping fictional story of finding a mysterious device installed in a rocket!

Among the list, you’ll find books you might be familiar with and some you won’t. There are some by famous authors such as Thomas Pynchon and some more obscure ones, such as the philosopher Byung-Chul Han.

A goal of mine for 2025 is to read more fiction; although there are few fiction books on here, next year’s list should have more. For now, I hope you enjoy this list and maybe end up reading some of the books below!

Inherent Vice

Inherent Vice is a fantastic and typically funny read by the amazing Thomas Pynchon.

It’s a detective novel set in the 1970s, revolving around a scheme involving a property developer, but it doesn’t read like a conventional detective novel.

Pynchon’s typical subversive style comes to the fore. He has a great gift for keeping you glued to the pages as you follow the plot.

Inherent Vice is much more accessible than some of Pynchon’s other books, such as Gravity’s Rainbow, which is also on this list. It’s not too dense and you can follow the plot without too much trouble, which isn’t always the case with Pynchon.

Homelands

Homelands was one of the most interesting books I read in 2024.

Written by the historian Timothy Garton Ash, it recounts his travels throughout Europe from his 20s to the present day alongside commentary on events on the continent such as the fall of the Berlin Wall.

It’s remarkable how much Garton Ash has seen and how many important figures in European history he’s acquainted with. This lends his accounts more weight and makes the book more compelling.

I don’t think Homelands is as good an account of the continent as Geert Mak’s In Europe. However, it’s still a brilliant read, a good complement to some of the best books on Europe, and will give you a great insight into Europe’s recent history.

Gravity’s Rainbow

Gravity’s Rainbow is arguably Thomas Pynchon’s most well-known novel and one of his most challenging.

After reading The Crying of Lot 49 in 2023, I wanted to read another of his novels. But the only one my local bookstore had was this 700-page behemoth!

It’s a challenging novel to read without multiple plot points and characters, and I found it hard to follow at times. However, it’s a gripping read and Pynchon’s unique style makes it all the more so.

This isn’t a book for the fainthearted but it’s rewarding if you stick with it as you read about this compelling and fun story about the race to acquire the bomb during the end of the Second World War.

The New Leviathans

The New Leviathans is written by one of my favourite philosophers, John Gray. This is his latest book and a fascinating if troubling read.

It’s a critical look at the failings of liberalism in the context of Thomas Hobbes’ famous work, Leviathan, hence the name.

The striking thing about the book is how erudite Gray is, there are so many references to thinkers, I’d not encountered before. The other striking thing is how certain he is that liberalism is in big trouble.

If you believe in most tenets of liberalism, like me, this is a troubling thought. What comes after liberalism is something that might not be as accommodating.

Fiesta (The Sun Also Rises)

The Sun Also Rises, also known as Fiesta, was a book that I found when I was travelling in Spain in the gift shop of the bullring in Ronda.

I’d never read a Hemingway book, so I thought I’d get it and give it a read. I wasn’t disappointed. It’s a brilliant read that describes a trip to Europe by Americans during the 1920s.

I’d heard a lot about Hemingway’s style of writing, and he’s indeed very economical with his words. But this doesn’t detract from his storytelling abilities.

The Sun Also Rises is a brilliant story of love and death and expatriates living in a very different culture. It’s considered one of Hemingway’s best novels and has only made me want to read his books even more!

The Disappearance of Rituals

The Disappearance of Rituals, by the German-Korean philosopher Byung-Chul Han, is a fascinating book on how rituals once commonplace have disappeared in the modern world.

Chul-Han is an interesting philosopher who tends to focus on the prevailing political philosophy of neoliberalism affecting the individual and society. This book is no different.

It’s an intriguing and short read that’s easily accessible for most people. Chul-Han’s premise is that modern society has done away with rituals that used to bind us all together and this is one reason for the increasing alienation many of us feel.

Medieval societies tended to have many more feasts and festivals than we do, and with the decline of religion, the rituals associated with it are becoming less common too.

It’s an interesting hypothesis and one I think has some credence in an increasingly atomised world.

The Immortalization Commission

The Immortalization Commission is another of John Gray’s books on this list, as I slowly make my way through his back catalogue.

I think this was the seventh or eighth of his books that I’ve read and this one was an intriguing one as it looks at attempts to cheat death throughout recent history.

This is a topic that’s relevant more than ever these days with biohacking influencers such as Bryan Johnson touting their methods on social media. However, Gray shows that has been a recurring theme throughout recent history and an unsuccessful one at that.

Gray draws on a range of figures, notably many in the early Soviet Union to illustrate his case, and makes a compelling argument for why trying to cheat death is a fool’s game.

Wasteland

Wasteland was one of the most interesting books I read in 2024, especially as reducing the amount of waste I produce is a key goal of mine.

The book primarily focuses on the UK, but the author also ventures abroad to places such as India, to highlight how rubbish we produce as a species.

It’s a harrowing read at times as you realise how much we consume and how little of it is reused or even recycled. It put my efforts to be more environmentally friendly into perspective.

Wasteland is a good complement to some of the best books on the environment as it will help you realise just how much of an issue consumer culture is.

It opened my eyes to how much we all consume and maybe it will do the same for you too.

50 Philosophy Ideas

50 Philosophy Ideas is a brilliant little book that gives you an overview of some of the most well-known philosophical concepts.

I bought this book as I wanted to learn more about philosophy and some of the concepts that underpin the discipline. This book was perfect for that.

It looks at 50 common ideas, such as animal rights, the allegory of the cave and much more. If you’re unfamiliar with philosophy, it’s a brilliant book to get started with.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and felt like I had a greater appreciation and understanding of the world around me and myself after reading it.

The Lost Rainforests of Britain

The Lost Rainforests of Britain was an intriguing book I read at the start of the year that looks at an underappreciated part of Britain’s past.

For thousands of years, temperate rainforests populated most of the western part of the country, providing some of the most impressive and diverse flora and fauna on the Isles.

Today, most of these rainforests are either gone or remain in fragments scattered across the western part of the country. I was unaware we even had rainforests in Britain until I read this book!

If you want to learn more about Britain’s past from a natural history perspective, this is a must-read. Given the challenges of climate change we face, learning how our environment can help mitigate the impacts is more important than ever.

Read More of My Best of The Year Lists

Check out the links below to read more of my favourite books from each year!

The Best Books I Read in 2020

The Best Books I Read in 2021

The Best Books I Read in 2022